Elevate Your Day with Andi and Brian Hale

Confession.

As daunting as confession seems in advance, its God’s remedy for a broken heart.

Romans 10:9-13 ESV because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For th...

In Days 1 & 2, we studied the words of King David in Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 as he expressed the “heart” and the “how” of confession. David’s experience is a powerful example of how darkness can envelop hidden sin, but shining the light on it can bring freedom and healing. Confession is a vitally important spiritual discipline because resistance to confession can bring the rest of your spiritual life grinding to a halt!

We get hu...

It is worth starting today’s discussion of how to practice confession with a bit of a warning. So here it is, our failure to practice confession is not for lack of understanding how to do it. If we are not practicing confession, it is probably that we understand the “how” and everything that entails very well. Because in essence, confession is very simple. In the words of David, it is so basic, it is like it’s in our very bones.

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Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a glimpse of the Spiritual Fruit God wants to grow in and through us. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a good summary of the Fruit that will grow in the life of a Christian – a Godly Character. Some of these characteristics, or “Fruits,” are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.

As we deepen our relationship with Jesus and allow His Spirit to nouri...

“If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned.” (NET)

Into the Text

A simple fact: a branch that is not connected to the vine has no life flowing through it, so it withers and dies. Without a true connection to Jesus, a person is like that branch, dead and unable to bear any Lasting Fruit.

Jesus has already said in verse 2...

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.” (NET)

Into the Text

I love how Jesus says, “bears much fruit…” It’s as if He’s gently reminding us that our lives are meant to overflow with Spiritual Fruit. But here’s the best part. We aren’t expected to produce it in our own strength. You, my sweet friend, are utterly unable to make ...

“You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” (NET)

When I read John 15:3-4, I imagine Jesus leaning in and looking each of the disciples in the eyes. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you….” (NET) It is a promise. Jesus knew that for each of ...

Elevate your day is a short daily devotional from Brian and Andi Hale, and can be found at elevateyourday.podbean.com

“If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.” 

Abiding in Christ means choosing to walk in His Light, live transparently before Him, and allow His Truth to shape every part of our lives. But sin disrupts this fellowship and creates a dista...

Elevate Your Day is a short daily devotional produced by Andi and Brian Hale, M-F and can be found at elevateyourday.podbean.com

"In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:16

The Light that we are called to shine through our lives is not for others to better see us, but to better see Christ. When we abide in Jesus, our lives begin ...

Friend, God is always at work in your life, even when you don’t realize it. While we’re called to intentionally pursue our faith, it’s God Himself who works within us. He is the One giving us both the desire and the strength to live according to His Will.

Staying connected to Jesus, the Vine, and allowing God to transform you is what it means to abide. Abiding isn’t about perfection or instant change. It’s about daily surrendering ...

I’ll never forget the day our new lawn company came to “treat and trim” our yard after we had moved into our home. What I didn’t realize was that it was pruning season. By the time they finished, they’d cut the rose bushes back so much that they looked like nothing but sticks. I wondered if they’d survive.

But to my surprise, not only did the bushes come back, but they grew fuller, stronger, and more beautiful than before. Though i...

I’ll be honest. I’m not much of a gardener. I wish I were! But I can tell the difference right away between a garden that’s lovingly tended and one that’s been left to itself. Without a gardener, plants either wither and die or grow wild and unruly. In both cases, they fail to thrive and fulfill the purpose they were planted for. However, when a gardener steps in, the garden is transformed. With the right mix of love, care, and wis...

Day One: No Approval Needed Key Verse: Proverbs 29:25

At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, our adult son had to abruptly return to America from Australia where he’d been living on a work visa. He rented a room from us for a few months until he could make his next move in life.

We soon noticed mail addressed to him stuffing our mailbox. As a member of Generation Z, he became a p...

While Jesus was on the cross, He cried out, “It is finished.” The outcome of His sacrifice not only paid the penalty for the sins of the world, but additionally ended the regime ruled by Satan.

When Jesus rose from the dead, darkness was defeated and life prevailed. After His resurrection, Jesus said to his disciples, “All power and authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). The ...

Blood. What is your first reaction when you read that word? Do you get squeamish? Leviticus 17:11 declares there is life in the blood.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. – Leviticus 17:11 ESV

In Christ’s blood, we receive life that death cannot conquer....

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up t...

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. – 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 ESV

In 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, the apostle Paul warns of the devil’s plans to outsmart us. Outwit is the term the New International V...

You were born into a war—no matter where or when you were born—and you were meant to claim victory in that war. This doesn’t sound like great news at first, but as you learn about this war, the news gets better. You have the privilege of choosing which side to fight for; and when you choose to follow Jesus, you make the decision to be on the winning side!

For though we walk in the f...